The Legal Protection of Beavers in Scotland

In November 2016, following months of debate, the Scottish Government announced that beavers will receive legal protection, subject to a Parliamentary vote. Roseanna Cunningham MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, indicated that this work will be completed by autumn of this year.

Legal protection would classify beavers as a European Protected Species in accordance with the EU Habitats Directive. This means it would be an offence to kill or injure any beaver, or deliberately disturb a beaver during breeding or rearing periods. Breeding and resting sites would also be protected.

What is the EU Habitats Directive?

The Habitats Directive ensures the conservation of rare, threatened or endemic animal and plant species. This is a key legal driver for assessing the need for reintroducing beavers to Scotland.

Article 22 of this Directive states that EU Member States should consider looking at reintroducing specific species (listed under Annex IV), after a public consultation. Eurasian Beavers are one of the species included in Annex IV for the UK.

Before the ministerial decision on Beaver reintroduction, the Scottish Government did not believe there was an obligation to apply legal protection to the European beaver under the terms of the Habitats Directive. Now that ministers have decided that beavers should remain in Scotland, it is expected that some form of legal protection should be applied.

Beavers in Scotland

Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber) are a species of beaver living in small colonies of multiple family groups, with each group containing a pair of breeding adults. Each breeding pair produces between one and six offspring, or kits, per year.

Beavers are regarded as ecosystem architects. Through the manipulation of their habitat, they form structures such as burrows, food caches, beaver canals and dams (Figure 1), which provide a variety of ecosystem services including:

increased groundwater storage

flow stabilisation and flood prevention

natural change and restoration of habitats

increased biodiversity through the creation of new habitats.

In the 16th century, they were hunted to extinction in Scotland for fur and meat.

The debate

Legal protection of beavers in Scotland has divided opinion. Farmers and land owners are concerned about their impacts on agricultural land, whereas environmentalists argue that beavers can enhance biodiversity.

In summary, some of the stated advantages of granting beavers legal protection are as follows:

Existing groups/colonies in Scotland

In May 2008, the Scottish Government approved a conservation project to rewild Eurasian beavers in Knapdale, Argyll, submitted by three partners (Scottish Wildlife Trust, the Royal Zoological Society and the Forestry Commission). This was the first conservation project of its kind in the UK, initially taking place between May 2009 and September 2010.

After completion, the Scottish Government intends to put legal protection for beavers in place as required by the Habitats Directive. A Scottish Statutory Instrument would add beavers to Schedule 2 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994. Following Parliamentary approval, beavers would then be classified as a European Protected Species under the Habitats Directive.